Robert B.
McLaughlin, to whom this book is dedicated, wrote a short
unpublished history of Newton Upper Falls that was based mostly
on his personal recollections of the days he spent in the
village. It was an inspiration to the author in developing the
more elaborate coverage contained in this volume. Mr. McLaughlin,
an outstanding resident of the village for many years, was born
in Scotland in 1881. He came with his parents to the United
States at the age of seven, settling in Newton Upper Falls in
1888. He was educated in the Newton schools, continued his
education at Wentworth Institute and Lowell Technical School and
following graduation, and took a position teaching mathematics in
a Connecticut school. He later took employment with the B. F.
Sturtevant Company of Readville where he remained for many years.
His last position with this firm was Safety Engineer, which led
to him becoming the president of the Massachusetts Safety
Council. Mr. McLaughlin served as president of the Newton Upper
Falls Improvement Association and was also an organizer of Boy
Scout Troop 12 of this village. He enjoyed all types of community
activities and often appeared in dramatic as well as minstrel
show presentations. In 1940 he joined Clarence Churchill (the
principal of the Emerson School) and Mrs. Ragna Hovgaard of the
City of Newton Recreational Department in developing the first
city wide Halloween parties schools, thus inaugurating a program
that was to become a model for similar affairs across the nation.

As a member of both the Boston and Newton Chapters of the
American Red Cross, Mr. McLaughlin became widely known as a top
grade instructor in First Aid. His services were in demand by the
local fire and police departments and many other civic groups,
particularly during World War II.

He was married in 1911 to Helen (Nellie) Crowley who shared
her husband's enthusiasm for participating in community affairs.

Frederic Barden was born in Dover, Massachusetts. In early
life he was employed in working and rolling iron, first in his
native town and later in Wareham, Massachusetts. Still later, he
was engaged in setting up large mills in Pembroke. He lived in
Newton for more than 30 years, erecting mills and carrying on an
extensive business which provided employment to many (mostly in
Newton Upper Falls where he owned and operated many mills, and
also owned a great deal of real estate). He was a representative
to the General Court for two sessions and was a very active
churchman in the Channing Religious Society at Newton Corner. His
last residence was the beautiful and prominent mansion at Newton
Upper Falls, built by Dr. Samuel Whitney and afterward owned and
occupied by Dr. A. D. Dearborn. (It was later owned by Josiah B.
Jewell, Dr. William McOwen and, finally, by the Mary Immaculate
of Lourdes Church. The house was moved to make way for the church
and today serves as the St. Elizabeth Center. Ed.)

He died September 25, 1817 at the age of seventy-one, leaving
his widow but no children.

John and Martha Cheney settled in Roxbury about 1635. They
moved to Newbury in 1636 where their four sons and five daughters
were born. A grandson, John, moved to Newton Upper Falls in 1702
and built a home on what is now Mechanic Street (see description
under "Old Houses and Buildings"). Another grandson,
Joseph, moved to Newton at about the same time and in 1702
married Sarah, daughter of Captain Noah Wiswall. He inherited a
portion of Wiswall's land that was located in the southwestern
part of Newton. A third grandson, John Cheney, also came to
Newton and built his home in 1732 on the lower end of Mechanic
Street (in the present William Street area). There were many
children born to these three men and their wives, and subsequent
marriages joined them with many pioneer Newton families. Five
Cheneys served in the Revolutionary War, with three taking part
in the engagement at Lexington. Worth mentioning is the fact that
while three of John and Martha's grandchildren left Newbury for
Newton, a great grandson, Benjamin, moved from Newton to
Connecticut. In 1724 he was operating a grist mill in Oxford
Parish, East Hartford which later became the town of Manchester.
This was the beginning of a long period of industrial dominance
in Manchester by the Cheney family which did not end until 1957.
From a humble beginning in a small mill built in 1838 they earned
world renown as the producers of the famous "Cheney
Silks." In 1924 they were operating the largest silk plant
in the world, and in 1925 Cheney silk was the first American
product to be put on exhibition in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Despite the fact that a silk mill operated in Upper Falls from
1884 until 1960 there is no evidence that the local Cheneys were
involved in its operations.

Joseph Cheney Jr., who was the great-grandson of John and
Martha, was married his second wife, Mary Toser, granddaughter of
Edward Jackson, and in the early 1700s they built or purchased a
home on Prospect Hill. It was on this property that Otis Pettee
built his home in 1828.

Since a great deal of information regarding this family has
been included earlier in this book, it will not be repeated here.
In 1688 John Clark established the first mill on the river in
Newton at Newton Upper Falls although he apparently did not build
a home here, rather 'commuting' daily from his home in Newton
Centre. However, it appears that his son William (who with his
brother, John, had inherited their father's property) did built a
home in Upper Falls very early in the eighteenth century; it is
recorded to have burned on March 18, 1729.

An account appearing in S. F. Smith's history involving some
of the Clarks in the Indian Wars is of interest and we include a
portion of it here:

"In 1779 a small group of residents went to
live in Sudbury, Canada (near Bethel, Maine). By 1781
there were ten families living in the town.

Indians
in the area were quite friendly at first but later became
hostile. On August 26, 1781, six Indians from Canada,
armed with guns, tomahawks and scalping knives took
Nathaniel Seger, Benjamin Clark, Lieutenant Jonathan
Clark of Newton and Captain Eleazer Twitchell prisoner
and plundered their homes.

Benjamin and Jonathan Clark were cousins; Benjamin
was the son of Norman Clark; Jonathan the son of William
Clark, Jr. and both men were grandsons of William Clark,
Sr. and great-grandsons of Newton Upper Falls mill owner,
John Clark.

The Indians loaded down their captives with heavy
packs of plundered articles and then, binding their hands
together, ordered them to march. They proceeded to a
place called Peabody's Patent (now Gilead, Maine) where
they took James Pettengill prisoner and ordered them all
to march toward Canada. Pettengill was without shoes and
could not travel so the Indians murdered him. They
continued their way through Shelburne, New Hampshire,
crossed the Androscoggin, plundered a house nearby, shot
one man and took another prisoner. At this point they
allowed Lieut. Jonathan Clark to go back. Being twelve
years older than Benjamin, it is thought the Indians
regarded him as too weak to endure the hardships of the
march.

They continued on their march to Canada and
reached Lake Umbagog on the fifth day after they were
taken prisoners. In Canada they were taken to an Indian
village, where seventy Indian warriors were assembled;
who rejoiced greatly over the prisoners, scalps and
plunder. The men here were treated with great indignity.
The red-skins cut off the hair of Benjamin Clark, painted
him, made him wear Indian garb and then surprisingly gave
him his liberty among them. The men were afterwards taken
to Montreal, where they suffered. incredible hardships
for forty days, and were then sent forty-five miles
farther up the river. There they were detained until the
surrender of Lord Cornwallis that signaled the end of the
Revolutionary War. The object of the Indians seems to
have been to deliver them up as prisoners of war to the
British authorities, or perhaps to secure a reward for
their capture.

The men were finally taken to Quebec, and after a
detention of fifteen months, full of hardships and
suffering, were set at liberty. They sailed for Boston,
landing at Dorchester Point. They arrived in Newton, much
to the astonishment and joy of their relatives and
friends who had not heard a word. from them since their
capture in Bethel."

Many of the Clark, Parker and Marean families of the Upper
Falls area later settled in central Massachusetts communities
such as Barre, Rutland. and Hubbardston, and some of their
descendants were known by this writer. The Clark family possesses
a genealogy that clearly indicates its connection with the
pioneer Clark family of Newton Upper Falls. It is, incidentally,
a family to which the author is related.

Perhaps the most outstanding contributors to the arts from
this village were the Cobb twins, Cyrus and Darius who lived for
many years on Boylston Street, Cyrus at #1129 and Darius at
#1137. Because of the influence of these families, the Boylston
Street Hill was known as Cobb's Hill for a long time. The twins
were the sons of Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, D.D. and Eunice (Hale) Cobb,
and were born August 6, 1834 in the old Ralph Waldo Emerson house
in Malden, Massachusetts. They were educated in the Boston
Schools, attended Norway (Maine) Liberal Institute and later
graduated with high honors from Boston Latin School. Cyrus
continued his education at Boston University and graduated from
Law School in 1873. They both enlisted in the Civil War and saw
action while serving with the 44th Massachusetts Regiment. On
January l, 1866 they were married by their father in a double
wedding ceremony to sisters; Cyrus to Laura N. Lillie and Darius
to Emma Lillie. The two girls were lineal descendants of John
Alden of Pilgrim fame.

Darius was a portrait and landscape painter, poet, singer and
lecturer. He was considered to be one of America's better
historical painters. His paintings in that category include Washington
at Dorchester Heights which was hung in the Memorial
Continental Hall in Washington. The Old Drummer of the
Revolution was placed in the old State House in Boston and
the Boston Tea Party was hung in the hall of the Ancients
and Honorables. The Death of Cuchullan was accepted and
placed in Boston College. He did portraits of Phillips Brooks,
Governor John A. Andrew (hung at the State House) and Rufus
Choate (among others). Locally, his portrait of Ralph Waldo
Emerson was once the proud possession of Emerson School.

From the TOWN CRIER of June 22, 1906:

"Last evening eleven scholars graduated from
the Ralph Waldo Emerson school amid the applause and
admiration of the parents and friends and profuse floral
tributes.

The diplomas were given by Miss Cora
Stanford Cobb of the School committee, after which, in
words graceful and fitting, Miss Cobb presented to the
school a valuable, life sized work of her father, Mr.
Darius Cobb. The picture is said by people of our village
who knew Emerson, to be the striking likeness of the
'Concord sage. ' "*

Principal Hodges for the school expressed his
thanks for the gift, which is to hang in the library. He
spoke of the work and character of Emerson and what it
ought to mean to the scholars of the school. Mr. Darius
Cobb from the audience was given a royal welcome after
which he made a few remarks, alluding to the respect,
confidence and love which the village had shown him
during his residence of nearly thirty years. He said that
the love of the children was ample thanks for the
"pain of art" taken in painting the
picture...."

*
On viewing the portrait, Mr. Emerson's niece declared
that it was the best likeness of her famous uncle she had
ever seen. It is presumed the city acquired the painting
after the school was closed.

It was religious paintings, however, for which Darius Cobb was
better known. His first was entitled Judas, followed by Christ
Before Pilate, Abraham, and a magnificent head of
Christ called The Master. This painting was completed in
1917 when the artist was 83 years of age. He had worked on it for
34 years before considering it finished. Unfortunately, a few
years later it was destroyed by fire.

Darius and his wife had seven children; four daughters, Lillie
Alden, Cora Stanwood, Estelle and Edith and three sons, Stanwood,
Percival B. and Frederick. Frederick resided in Upper Falls and
was shipping agent for the Pettee Machine Works. His home was on
Rockland Place in the old John A. Gould House.

Cyrus Cobb practiced law for six years but later devoted full
time to the arts of painting and sculpturing. His paintings were
of a historical nature and included portraits of General U. S.
Grant, Abraham Lincoln and a canvas entitled Warren at the Old
South which is hung at the Old South Meeting House in Boston.
His sculptured pieces include a head entitled, The Celtic Bard,
a heroic bas-relief Prospero and Miranda, a bust of
General Butler, a bust of Phillips Brooks and one of local
interest, that of Reverend S. F. Smith, author of the patriotic
hymn America. This latter piece was placed in the State
House. His most noted work was the Soldiers Monument located on
Cambridge Common. His design for this monument was selected from
about 40 others.

Cyrus and his wife had five children; three daughters: Grace,
Elsie, and Florence and two sons, Francis S. and Ernest. Ernest
purchased the old Cunningham estate on Richardson Road in 1918
from which he and his wife, Bertha, successfully operated the
Arlo Publishing Company which featured children's books.

It should be noted that Eunice Hale White Cobb, the mother of
Darius and Cyrus, founded the first woman's club in America
called the "Ladies Physiological Institute" which
promoted health and fitness.

In one more reference to Darius Cobb's numerous historical
paintings, we note from a news item appearing in the TOWN
CRIER of May 5, 1911 that 10,000 postal cards of Mr. Cobb's
painting of the Last Comrade's Final Tribute were being
printed for circulation through the country. If anyone has one of
these cards in their possession we would appreciate seeing it.

In the latter days of the eighteenth century the Elliot family
exerted a great deal of influence on the village of Newton Upper
Falls. Elliot Street, one of the main thoroughfares of the
village, perpetuates the name. We will not attempt to give a
complete genealogical background of the family. However, there
were two Elliots who had an influence on the village, father and
son, both bearing the name of Simon. This fact seems to have
confused our early historians and has led to some distortion of
the record of achievement of each man.

Simon, the father, was a well-to-do Boston trader and tobacco
dealer who purchased, in two transactions (1778 & 1782) the
old mill site in Upper Falls. As indicated in the chapter
regarding industry in the village, he laid the foundation,
through his small but varied industrial complex, for the more
ambitious establishment that followed.

His son, inheritor of the property, was known as General
Elliot, a title received through service in the state militia.
Records show he was born in 1762 and died in 1832. His wife was
the former Eliza Barnard (born 1768, died 1852). Although General
Elliot continued his father's business, some unlucky investments
and a general business recession (partially created by the War of
1812 which closed European markets to the United States) more or
less influenced him to sell the property to his brother-in-law,
Thomas H. Perkins. Very little is known of his private life
although he spent part of his early days here in the village. He
had maintained family control over the Newton mills, and it is
recorded. that he built a home in the village "which served
to facilitate frequent family excursions to 'The Falls.' "
We know that he had a least one child, a son (name unknown), as
we discovered through an interesting story regarding an episode
in his life. (See OLD HOUSES AND
BUILDINGS)

We are indebted to Carl Seaburg and Stanley Paterson's book MERCHANT
PRINCE OF BOSTON, Colonel T.H. Perkins, 1764-1854, for most
of the following information regarding this remarkable man who
was associated with the village of Upper Falls for over 50 years.
For 27 years of this period he was actively engaged in operating
the Elliot Manufacturing Company.

Thomas H.
Perkins was born in Boston December 15, 1764. His maternal
grandfather, Thomas Handasyd Peck, was a merchant and his father
followed the same calling. Thomas was the second son and was only
six years old at the time of his father's death. While his mother
was a woman of great business ability and continued to manage her
husband's business successfully, she had eight children to raise,
so it was for this reason that in 1770 Thomas Perkins went to
live with his grandfather, the man for whom he was named. He was
prepared for college by private tutors but never attended. He
preferred a mercantile career and in 1799 entered the employ of
Messrs. Shattuck, one of the most prominent business firms in
Boston, remaining with them until 1785. It was at this point that
he entered into the shipping business in partnership with his
brother James.

On March 25, 1788 he married 20 year old Sally Elliot ( one of
the two daughters of Simon Elliot (incorrectly identified by
Simon Elliot's biographers as his only daughter. See INDUSTRY). The marriage put him in
close association with his wife's brother, General Simon Elliot
and prior to purchasing his interest in the mills at Upper Falls
they embarked on a few business ventures together. One of these
included an investment in the first theatre in Boston (the
Federal) which was erected February 3, 1794. His early
association with the shipping industry ultimately led to a
lucrative career in shipping to the West Indies as well as Europe
and even to maintaining an office in Canton, China. An
involvement in fur trading on the West Coast resulted in
achieving a monopoly of the handling and selling of sea otter
pelts, a very lucrative venture.

Too young to participate in the Revolutionary War, Thomas
nevertheless was involved in a rather dangerous venture during
the French Revolution in 1794 by sailing one of his ships into a
harbor in France and spiriting George Washington Lafayette
(Washington's godchild) on board and back to asylum in this
country. This led to a personal invitation by Washington to visit
Mount Vernon in 1796 for a one-night stay and to enjoy the
president's hospitality. It is said that at one point Washington
offered him the position of Secretary of the Navy in the nation's
first presidential cabinet. Mr. Perkins graciously declined on
the grounds that his own fleet was larger and, presumably, more
important to him. It is interesting to note that in this period
many seacoast towns were claiming to be the home of the nation's
first navy even though a list of those making up the president's
cabinet did not contain a Secretary of the Navy. Thomas was
elected to the state senate in 1805 and for the following 20
years was a member of one branch or the other of the legislature.
However, most of his time was spent in the senate.

Thomas was one of the promoters of the Quincy Granite Railway
(the first in the country) which was organized to supply the
granite for the building of Bunker Hill monument, a prospect in
which he also took an active part. He held the first
organizational meeting in his home for the building of a general
hospital in Boston, which later became known as the Massachusetts
General Hospital. He also became one of its more generous
financial backers. However, it was felt that an asylum for the
mentally retarded was needed first, with the result that a
facility was built which eventually became the McLean Hospital.

In 1826 he
and his brother, James Perkins, contributed half the sum of
$30,000 that was needed for an addition to the Boston Athenaeum.
The old Boston Athenaeum Gallery of Art was moved to James
Perkin's home and an addition was needed to the house to contain
the collection. At that time it was called. the "Academy of
Fine Arts". It was the philanthropic interest of James and
Thomas that led to the building of its formal home, the present
prestigious Museum of Fine Arts.

When Thomas built his new home on Province Court in 1832, he
gave his mansion on Pearl Street (valued at $50,000) to the New
England Institution for Education of the Blind with the provision
that the additional sum of $50,000 be subscribed by the public
for maintaining the Institute. Mr. Perkins had been in England
and learned first hand of the excellent work being done with the
blind by Samuel Gridley Howe, and had succeeded in persuading Mr.
Howe to come to this country to work with the institution. Mr.
Howe's work attracted so much attention that an increase of
students demanded larger quarters, with the result that a new
institution was opened in South Boston under the name The Perkins
Institute and. Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. In 1910 the
Stickney estate in Watertown was purchased for the final home of
this organization which was to gain world-renown as The Perkins
Institute for the Blind. Thomas showed great interest the
Institute, and though he was a hard 'bargaining business man, was
caring enough to have the Gospel of St. John published in a small
Braille volume suitable for teaching the art of reading to the
blind. In 1799 Perkins had purchased 61 acres in Brookline and
began to build a country house called the "Mansion
House" which became a show place. It was here on January 11,
1854 that Thomas Handasyd Perkins died after 90 years of an
exciting and fruitful life. As a mark of esteem, both branches of
the Massachusetts Legislature adjourned the day of the funeral.

Incidentally we might recall that it was Howe's wife, Julia,
who wrote the stirring "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

It might also be recalled that Sally (Elliott) Perkins'
daughter, Mary Ann Perkins, married Thomas Graves Gary and their
daughter, Elizabeth Gary Agassiz, was the first president of
Radcliffe College. Also Sarah (Elliot) Perkin's daughter, Eliza,
married Samuel Cabot. Their son, James Elliot Cabot, was the
official biographer of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a commission which
met with the warm endorsement of the noted poet and philosopher
before his death.

The Everett family was another very prominent family in early
Upper Falls, moving here from Foxboro. The Everetts originally
emigrated from England about 1634-35. The family was represented
in Upper Falls by three brothers, Joseph, Nathaniel W. and Cyrus.
Their mother was Abigail (Pettee) Everett, sister of Otis Pettee.
Nathaniel married a Winslow, Deborah Ann, in 1849 at Newton Upper
Falls which drew the three families together.

One of the more famous Everetts who often visited the village
was a cousin, Edward Everett, who was a noted scholar, statesman
and orator with an outstanding public record. After a short term
at Phillips Academy he entered Harvard at the age of 13,
graduating at 17 with highest honors. Daniel Webster, once his
teacher, later became a lifelong friend. In 1813 at the age of 19
he was pastor of Brattle Street Church, but two years later he
returned to Harvard as professor of Greek Literature. In 1825 he
entered the political life and over a period of 35 years served
the state as its congressman, senator and governor. He also
served the nation as U.S. Minister of the Court of Saint James in
Great Britain as well as Secretary of State in Washington under
President Millard Fillmore. In the midst of this he managed to
occupy the chair of the President of Harvard for a brief period.
His oratorical prowess was exhibited when, in later life, he
traveled up and down the eastern United States extolling the
virtues of George Washington, raising $90,000 of which $68,000
went to a desperately needed restoration of Mount Vernon. During
the Civil War he was a close friend and confidant of President
Lincoln. When Upper Falls resident Dr. Joseph Huckins Warren, a
member of the Warren family of Revolutionary War fame, married
Caroline Everett (daughter of Joseph C, Everett), it was no doubt
Edward Everett's influence with President Lincoln that secured
for Dr. Warren the position of personal physician to the
president during the Civil War (See under 'Dr. Warren' "THE PEOPLE" chapter). The reader
may recall that Edward was the orator who shared the platform
with Lincoln at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg and
who congratulated Lincoln after he had made his famous "Four
score and seven years ago ...." speech saying something to
the effect, "You said more in two minutes than I did in two
hours!"

The Goulds are an old New England family, originating in
England and arriving in this country at Charlestown,
Massachusetts on the ship DEFENSE in 1635. The Newton
Upper Falls branch of the family was headed by Major John Allen
Gould I (born in Milton, Massachusetts October 4, 1785 and died
July 9, 1860 ). He was married to Rebecca Gay on May 29, 1810 at
Walpole, Massachusetts, and they probably settled in Walpole
early in the nineteenth century. There is no record of John Allen
Gould I ever residing in Newton Upper Falls. However, he kept a
diary where he recorded his family's activities until two months
before his death in 1860. Most of the following is taken from
that journal, and only members of the Gould family associated
with Newton Upper Falls are included here. This also applies to
family information taken from other sources.

The first member of Major Gould's family to arrive in Newton
Upper Falls was John Allen Gould II in October, 1833. He was born
February 27, 1815 at Walpole and died September 2, 1894 at Newton
Upper Falls.

Nancy Paine (Hartshorn)
Gould

John Allen Gould II

On March 5, 1835 John Allen II's brother, George, (born
November 11, 1819) "went to work for Otis Pettee of Newton
Upper Falls to learn the business of Machinist." On
September 8, 1845 his father records, "My son George was
married to Almira Andrews of Charleston, Mass." On February
8, 1847 their first child, Ella Rebecca, was born. On July 18,
1851 Rebecca was joined by a brother, George Frederick. On
December 31, 1856 another daughter, Mary Elizabeth, joined the
family.

On May 30, 1848 George's father wrote, "My son George
bought a house and some land at Newton Upper Falls for which he
paid $950. The house is not entirely finished for a dwelling and
will therefore require an outlay of two or three hundred dollars
to put it in condition suitable for a residence. George has to
this time lived in a hired house." An 1874 city atlas
(Newton's first) shows, on a Newton Upper Falls map, the house of
"G. Gould" to be what is now 58-60 High Street. It is
still standing.

Home of George Gould,
58-60 High Street, c. 1845

Home of John Allen Gould
II,49 Rockland Place. 1845

In 1841, another brother, Charles, left his home in Walpole
for Newton Upper Falls to learn the "machine business."
He would serve an apprenticeship "on the woodwork of
machinery at Otis Pettee's, Newton Upper Falls." (An
important note must be made here regarding Charles Gould, son of
John Allen Gould I. Beginning at this point most of Charles's
activities were kept in a separate record and included earlier in
the chapter VILLAGE LIFE with the activities of the Winslow
family as he was very closely associated with some of its
members, especially those involved with the Boston-Newton Joint
Stock Associates in their 1849 gold-seeking trek to California).

High Street in Upper Falls was laid out in 1837. A map
(c.1850) shows Rockland Place only extending as far as John A.
Gould Jr.'s house (now 49 Rockland Place) so John A. II's house
was built or acquired sometime between 1837and 1850. This is
confirmed by an entry in his father's diary, dated April 24,
1845, "My son John Allen purchased a house and about 3 or 4
acres of land at Newton Upper Falls for a residence for himself
and family." Note: This seems to be in conflict with his
address shown in the 1868 town directory. However, Rockland Place
is not shown in the street directory portion of this same
directory.

In 1839 John A. II married Nancy Paine Hartshorn, daughter of
Richard Hartshorn at Walpole, and "commenced housekeeping at
Newton." An 1868 Newton Town Directory (its first) indicates
that John A. I, along with brother George, was employed at
Frederick Barden's rolling mill located at the lower dam of the
Charles River at the Worcester Turnpike (now Boylston Street),
his occupation shown as clerk; and George's as a machinist. Both
of their home addresses were listed as "High (St.) near
Winter."

The first of John A. II's six children was Charles Allen
Gould, born July l, 1842 but who died at a young age a year later
on February 16, 1843, with his burial at Walpole. The second
child, Nancy Jane Gould was born January 8, 1844 and died on
October 3, 1849; also buried at Walpole. The occasion affected
grandfather John Allen I enough to record this in his diary:

"Oct. 5, (1849) - attended the funeral of my
granddaughter Nancy Jane Gould. It was an occasion of
unusual solemnity. A partial service was held at Newton
at which place about 70 scholars of that place followed
in procession over the bridge into Needham. The relatives
then proceeded to Walpole where a full service was held.
She was buried in my family plot; by the side of her
little Brother who died in 1843."

William Henry Gould, John and Nancy's third child, was born in
Newton Upper Falls September 3, 1846. A story regarding the
"GOULD FAMILY" appearing in the book WABAN - EARLY
DAYS (The Modern Press, Newton Centre, Publishers) declares:

"In 1874, Alice Collins, daughter of Amasa
(Collins) married William Henry Gould of Newton Upper
Falls," (which then included the village of Waban).
The 1883 Newton City Directory indicates that William H.
Gould was employed as a clerk at 298 Devonshire (St.),
Boston. After their marriage and until 1935 they lived in
the old homestead at No. 1704 Beacon Street... The
village, even then, was small and, compared with present
conditions, sparsely built up. The large parlor of the
house, running its full depth, made it an ideal (and
almost the only) place in the village where gatherings of
any considerable number could be held comfortably. Mr.
and Mrs. Gould were intensely interested and prime movers
of many community affairs, and the doors of the house
were always open for the furtherance of those
affairs...Mrs. Gould was the first president of the Waban
Women's Club, was treasurer of the Newton Hospital Aid
Association from its inception until about 1930. She was
a charter member of the Lucy Jackson Chapter, D.A.R.,
named after one of her ancestors. Mrs. Gould died in
1940. Mr. Gould was an ardent lover of sports, continuing
to play golf at Brae Burn [Country Club] until after his
eighty-fifth year. He died February 6, 1937."

The diary of John A. Gould I records only that the fourth
child of John A. Gould II, Irving Hartshorn Gould, was born
August 14, 1850 and that he does not appear to have been married;
he died at the age of 26 and was buried March 31, 1876 at the
Newton Cemetery. However, within the family papers there is an
undated newspaper article detailing the tragic accident ending
the life of Irving H. Gould (1850-1876). At age 25, Irving, still
single, had left the family at Newton Upper Falls to enter into
partnership with Small, Gould & Co., a paper manufacturing
business located in Baldwinsville, Massachusetts. About a year
later, around 6:00 P.M. on March 31, 1876, Irving was working
overtime with one other worker, attempting to make an adjustment
to one of the belts. Shops of that era knew or cared little about
safety or hazardous conditions; most shops operating with
numerous belts and gears open and exposed. Somehow, Irving became
caught in the gears, was drawn into the machinery and severely
injured. The other worker ran for help which arrived too late to
save Irving's life. He was taken back to his rooming house where
he died about 11:00 p.m. the same evening. His gravestone can be
seen in the Newton Cemetery in the family plot. (It would be
years before organized labor and public protests would force
industry to make shops and factories safer places to work.)

John Allen Gould III at
age 1 with his mother, Nancy Paine Hartshorn Gould, in
1853

John Allen Gould III was the fifth child born to John A. II
and Nancy on December 14, 1852. He was married to Frances Taylor
Sabin on September 10, 1884 with the wedding taking place at her
parents' home on Main Street, Gardner, Massachusetts.

John Allen Gould III

Frances Taylor (Sabin)
"Fannie" Gould

While it is thought that they set up housekeeping at l206
Boylston Street in Newton Upper Falls, an 1886 city atlas shows
that this address was under the ownership of the heirs of one
Miss C.L. Wheeler. However, this same atlas shows a new (?) house
diagonally across (in an easterly direction) from 49 Rockland
Place owned by John A. Gould, Jr.(III) with J.A. Gould Sr.(II)
still shown as the owner of the property at 49 Rockland. An 1895
atlas does show that J. A. Gould III had acquired the property
formerly owned by the Wheeler heirs whose address would be 1206
Boylston Street. This 1895 atlas shows that the property formerly
occupied by John A. III on Rockland Place across from #49 was now
owned by Melvin W. Gould, John A. II's youngest son.

Melvin Gould was born December 2, 1855 and was married to
Lydia Toulmin, who was born in 1858 and died in 1894. Melvin died
in 1835 and both he and his wife are buried in Newton Cemetery.
The Newton City Directory for 1883 indicates Melvin was working
at 87 Milk Street in Boston and boarding at G.B. Randalls, whose
home was on Boylston street near High Street. An 1885 directory
shows him working as a teller at 87 Milk Street, Boston with his
home being on Rockland Place.

In any event, John Allen Gould III and his wife Frances Taylor
(Sabin) Gould would have six children, five sons and one
daughter, born here at 1206 Boylston Street.

Their first son, Gardner Sabin Gould was born April 16, 1886
and died June 29, 1973. On September 14, 1910 he was married to
Nina Green Clapp. At the outbreak of World War I, he was the
father of a four-year old daughter and doing civil engineering
work for the Navy at Newport, Rhode Island, and thus was the only
son not to enter some branch of service during the war.

Allen Adams Gould was the second son, born December 14, 1887.
He was sent to France as an Army Captain to work for the British
Ministry of Munitions. He married Barbara Venning on April 3,
1943 and he died in 1972.

Richard Hartshorn Gould was the third son, born June 14, 1889.
He served in the war as a pursuit pilot in France and was married
to Anna K. Spenser. He died in 1977.

Prescott Wilder Gould, the fourth son (born February 23,
1894), after a short period of service in the cavalry on the
Mexican Border in pursuit of Pancho Villa, became a machine
gunner sergeant in World War I. Not long after participating in
the battle at Siecheprey, France, he ironically became ill from
intestinal complications, resulting in his death on May 16, 1918.

The youngest son, Howard Paine Gould was born January 30,
1898. He served aboard one of the Navy's subchasers, mostly in
European waters. He was unmarried and died at the young age of 30
on November 29, 1928. A 1923 city directory indicates that he was
employed in the marine insurance business at Kilby Street,
Boston.

Margaret Sylvester Gould, was born June 14, 1899. She was
married on February 14, 1933 to George Bancroft Hall and she died
May 5, 1982.

John Allen III and his family attended the Upper Falls
Methodist Church. It is reported that it was a very exciting
Sunday morning the time he pulled up in front of the church in a
Stanley Steamer and it blew up. It is not known whether anyone
was injured in the explosion.

Besides acting as a director of the Merchant's Cooperative
Bank,. Mr. Gould was a member of the Boston Society of Civil
Engineers, the New England Waterworks Association, the New
England Association of Gas Engineers, the American Gaslight
Association and the Guild of Gas Managers. He was also the
treasurer of the Quinobequin Association and the Newton Upper
Falls Improvement Association.

It is recorded that John A. Gould III constructed a home on
Rockland Place for his wife's unmarried sister, Ethel Wheeler
Sabin, from a barn on his property but during the remodeling
process a workman accidentally set the structure on fire. It is
true that an earlier city atlas (1874) shows a large barn to the
rear of the property at 1206 Boylston, but the 1886 atlas does
not indicate one there. It is believed that it was replaced later
by a home (18 Rockland Place) which became the residence of Miss
Sabin.

The father of this family, John Allen III, died on May 18,
1919 while most of his sons were in the service. His wife,
Frances, died January 6, 1943.

Additional Information

The following are items that are not included in the biography
of the Gould family.

They are taken from the same diary and journal kept by its
author, Major John Allen Gould I. These are items that are of a
different nature than family records, but which we thought were
of enough interest to be included here. Major Gould began his
journal in the year 1843; any items prior to that time are just
recollections of the events. We will try to confine them to only
records of items of national interest and those of unusual local
and domestic events.

1796
When between ten and eleven years of age...my residence in Quincy
was at the time when John Adams, an inhabitant of that town, was
first Vice President and then President of the United States. I
had frequent opportunities of seeing Mr. Adams at church and
other places. I recollect of once selling him some fresh fish....
Mr. Adams was of middling height, thickset and fair looking.

1815About the middle of February our ears were greeted with
the news of peace between this country and Great Britain. This
ended the War of 1812.

October 24, 1843I went to Dedham to hear John Q. Adams, formerly
president of the United States but now Representative to Congress
deliver an address to his constituents. I with many other persons
had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Adams and shaking
hands with him. The address was delivered in the meeting house of
Mr. Burgess. It was interesting to see Mr. Adams who had been the
President of the United States in a pulpit addressing his
countrymen upon subjects of national concern and welfare. Mr.
Adams was then 76 years old. His voice was quite clear and
distinct.

Sept. 20, 1848 Went to Boston on business. On my return stopped at a
meeting of Whigs in Dedham (John had earlier gone as a delegate
to the Whig convention at Worcester) and heard an address
delivered by Hon. Abraham Lincoln, a member of Congress from the
State of Illinois. The address was strongly in favor of Gen.
(Zachary) Taylor for the presidency of the United States.

November 7, 1848 This is the day established by a recent law of the
United States for the people of the several states to choose
Electors of President and Vice President of the United States.
Under former laws electors were chosen at such time as each state
might direct.

September 9, 1850 Congress have, after about six months debate and
contention voted to admit
California as a State into the Union, with a Constitution which
prohibits Slavery within its limits.

September 6, 1852 Was engaged in giving names to the several streets in
the town of Walpole.

September 28, 1852 Attended a Whig Convention at Dedham as a delegate from
Walpole to nominate a candidate for representative to Congress.
At this convention I had the pleasure of meeting my son George as
a delegate from Newton to said Convention.

September 16, 1853 Took charge of the removal of four Lunatics from the
jail in Dedham to the Lunatic Asylum in Vermont. This vas my
first visit to the State of Vermont, and adds another to the list
of States which I have been into, namely, Massachusetts, Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and
New Jersey, making in all eight States.

January 1, 1854 New Years day. I have had rather a busy time the past
year. I have continued my charge of two estates and commenced on
the estate of the third individual. I have served as Special
County Commissioner, Chairman of the Boards of Selectmen,
Assessors and Overseers of the Poor of the town of Walpole
together with incidental business.

Much of the following information regarding Mr. Hale is taken
from the book, BEAUTIFUL NEWTON, publisher John C.
Brimblecom, Newton Graphic Publishing Company, Newton,
Massachusetts.

Frank Judson Hale was the General Manager and Director of the
Saco-Lowell Shops and was considered to be one of the more
successful business men residing in Newton. He was born in Newton
Upper Falls, Massachusetts, August 14, 1862, the son of Amos L.
and Tamson Drake Hale. He was educated in the Newton schools.

Frank Judson Hale

Grace (Herrick) Hale

Besides his interest in the Saco-Lowell shops, Mr. Hale was a
director of many companies including a number of cotton mills. In
local affairs he was a director of the Newton Trust Co., the
Newton Cooperative Bank, and the Newton Home for the Aged (now
The Stone Institute). He was also a trustee of the Newton Savings
Bank.

He served on the Common Council of Newton in 1888 and 1889,
resigning in June of that year to accept an election to the
school committee, where he served until December 31, 1898.

Mr. Hale was married to Grace E. Herrick and they had two
children, a daughter Marjorie and a son, Roger Drake Hale. Mrs.
Hale, who had been a school teacher, was the daughter of Reverend
Austin F. Herrick who at one time served as pastor of the Newton
Upper Falls Methodist Church.

The Boston area Marcys were descended from John Marcy who
emigrated to Roxbury in 1683.

Memorial to John Marcy

Willard Marcy, the eldest son of Buckley Marcy was born in
Hartland, Vermont, November 21, 1822. He received his education
in the rural district school of Hartland. After working on the
home farm until he was twenty-two years old, he moved to
Medfield, Massachusetts where he was employed by Mr. Dennis
Hossington traveling in a Tin cart, for which he received wages
that amounted to only thirty cents a day. But it is said he was
so diligent in his business and so frugal that at the end of
three or four years he was able to partially pay for a stove and
tin shop business in Newton Upper Falls. On January l, 1850 he
married Maria Farnum of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Unfortunately,
she died the following year, in October 1851. He was so overcome
with grief at the loss of his wife that he suffered a severe
illness and almost a year passed before he recovered. He sold his
business at Newton Upper Falls and returned to his father's farm
in Hartland, Vermont but after a period of convalescence he
returned to Upper Falls where he operated a grocery store for a
period of nine or ten years. During this time he became
interested in town affairs and held many appointed and elective
offices, from that of village constable to the position of
Selectman, later serving on the Board of Assessors and holding
the office of the Overseer of the Poor.

Willard Marcy

Elizabeth (Pettee) Marcy

For two or three years Willard Marcy held a position in the
custom service under Collector Goodrich of the Port Of Boston.
Becoming interested in the New York & Boston Railroad
(formerly Charles River RR) which had already been built as far
as Upper Falls, he resigned his government position in order to
assist in extending the railroad as far as Woonsocket, Rhode
Island where it merged with the New York & New England
Railroad. Also, for a period of twenty years he held the position
of wharfinger of Boston Wharf. He also served in the
Massachusetts Legislature for two years, 1885 and 1886. From the
date of its incorporation he was an officer and stock holder in
the Newton Savings Bank and at the time of his death was a member
of its Board of Trustees. He also was a trustee of the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Newton Upper Falls.

Marcy Family Farm,
Chestnut Street

One of the greatest efforts of his life was his attempt,
during a period of twenty years, to recover the principal of
$371,000 taken by the United States government from a Newtonville
bank in which he held an interest, at the time of the defalcation
of its treasurer. The entire amount was eventually recovered,
largely through his efforts.

On December 16, 1855 he married, as his second wife, Elizabeth
Pettee of Newton Upper Falls. They had four children. The first,
Maria Elizabeth, was born April 17, 1858 and died January 19,
1860.

The second, Mary Maria, was born October 11, 1859 and married
Eugene L. Crandall of Claremont, New Hampshire. They had two
children, Eula Viola, born December 16, 1887 and a son, Leslie
Eugene, born September 21, 1890, who died March 10, 1891. Mary
Maria died November 7, 1883.

Their first son, Willard Adna, was born October 15, 1870, and
died June 10, 1937. In 1915 he married Jane Locke who was born
December 18, 1874 at Seabrook, New Hampshire. They had two sons;
Willard, born September 27, 1916 in Newton, Massachusetts.and
John Locke, born and died in 1918 in Newton. The family moved to
Syracuse, New York in 1922 but all are buried in Newton Cemetery.
Willard Adna, a mechanical engineer, graduated from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.

Willard A and George L
Marcy, c. 1878

Their second son, George Leonard, born April 17, 1873 at
Newton Upper Falls. George graduated from Bryant and Stratton
Commercial School at Boston. He was married October 5, 1905 at
Eastport, Maine to Dora Bessie Powell, born July 13, 1880 at
Alma, New Brunswick, Canada, who died August 7, 1969. He and his
wife had eight children, four girls and four boys, whose name are
given next to his picture:

Dora Elizabeth, born February 8, 1907, married
Karl Darrow;

Esther, born April 29, 1908, unmarried, died
November 7, 1955;

Mildred. born May 9, 1909, unmarried;

George Louis, born November 10, 1911, married
Mary Arbuckle; (photo at right)

Gilbert, born July 7, 1913, married Eunice
Phelps;

Richard Powell, born October 22, 1914, married
Hilda Underwood;

Forrest Kinsman, born June 3, 1917, married
Lillian Larsen;

Ruth Pettee, born May 21, 1923, married Charles
Neal.

George died at the homestead where he was born on December 28,
1934.

Perhaps, with Willard Marcy's investment in the local
railroad, it was a bit ironic that on a morning in 1890, just
after boarding the train on his daily commute to Boston, he was
struck down with a fatal heart attack. On the day of his funeral
"the business portion of the neighborhood was closed in
respect to his memory." The Upper Falls Methodist Church, of
which Mr. Marcy was a member and trustee, was filled with members
of his family and a host of friends representing all walks of
life, dignitaries of state and a large number of city and village
officials. There was no question that his passing represented a
great loss to the community.

The Parker family came to Upper Falls shortly after the turn
of the seventeenth century. Our first record of the family begins
with the settlement of Samuel and Sarah {Holmar) Parker in Dedham
in the early 1600s. Their son, Samuel, came to Newton in the
1690s and raised his family there.

Samuel Parker married Margaret, daughter of Captain Noah
Wiswall, settled on part of the Wiswall land and in 1694 bought
the house and land of Lieutenant Ebenezer Wiswall. In 1708, for
the sum of 12 pounds, he acquired from John Clark at Upper Falls,
a quarter part of the sawmill, water rights and half an acre of
land. In 1717, at a cost of 45 pounds, he purchased another
quarter part of the mills and an additional one and a half acre
of land. He later acquired half ownership of the grist and
fulling mills, including the land.

Samuel's brother Nathaniel, who was born 1670, came to Newton
about the same time.

Samuel and Margaret's son, Noah, married Sarah Cummings of
Tyngsboro in 1715 and settled in Newton Upper Falls. By
"deed of gift" his father conveyed to him in 1725, half
ownership of the saw, grist and fulling mills, valued at 150
pounds. That same year he acquired a quarter share of the
property from William Clark (John's son) and a similar share from
Nathaniel Longley, including an additional seven acres of land.
This made Noah Parker the sole owner of all the mill property on
the river in 1725.

It was Noah's son, Thomas, who remained in the old homestead
at Upper Falls. He was a town Selectman and a representative to
the General Court for six years, commencing in 1777. It was he
who assisted in framing the first state constitution in the
nation (now the oldest such document in the world.) in 1779 which
was ratified in 1780. He was long "a leading and influential
man in the town." According to record. he died March 27,
1812 at the age of 91.

The Pettees were of early American stock, coming to Upper
Falls from Foxborough, Massachusetts where the family had settled
around 1750. They were a highly respected family, a versatile
people made up of farmers, blacksmiths, millowners, storekeepers
and accomplished musicians. One served as organist for the local
Congregational church in Foxborough for over 50 years, and
Herbert Pettee was the youngest drummer boy from New England in
the Civil War. The Pettees were among the owners of early blast
furnaces for the making of iron and Joseph, brother of Otis, cast
the anchor for the USS Constitution.

Scattered throughout this book are numerous references to Otis
Pettee. Some of the following may be repetitious, dealing mostly
with information regarding his family, but is included here to
make it more readily available for genealogical purposes.

Otis Pettee was born March 5, 1795, the son of Simon and
Abigail (Jenkins) Pettee of Foxborough, and grandson of Samuel
and Elizabeth Pettee. His father had six sons and five daughters,
and his grandfather (born 1690) had seven sons and six daughters.
Otis married Matilda Sherman September 25, 1817 and they had six
sons and three daughters.

Otis Pettee

Mrs. Otis
Pettee, née Matilda Sherman

He died February 11, 1853 at age 58 leaving a fair estate of
which the inventory, irrespective of business liabilities, was
declared by the Judge of Probate to be the largest that had been
filed in Middlesex County. The rise and fall of his business
fortune was reflected in his will which showed the total value of
his estate to be $232,175 but with debts totaling $84,003.

The Otis
Pettee House

As late as two years before his death Mr. Pettee had raised
$11,000 by placing a mortgage on his home. His property holdings
were considerable. In Newton he owned a machine shop, 12 acres of
land containing other shops, the Elliot Mills including all its
machinery, and 15 other dwelling houses "mostly adapted to
several families each." Most of this, except for the Pettee
Works was sold to help liquidate his debts. These sales yielded
$90,501 or about $6,000 more than required. His personal estate
of $105,339 was untouched.. It should. be noted that at one time
he owned 30 dwellings in Upper Falls. His will also disclosed
that he owned seven acres of land, a rolling and slitting mill,
nail factory, sawmill and a gristmill in Needham.

Mr. McLaughlin adds the following regarding Mr. Pettee:

"Mr. Pettee had three sons [Six were born
but three died in infancy....Ed] and three daughters:
Elizabeth married Willard Marcy who built a farm house at
1173 Chestnut Street. Another daughter, Catherine,
married Martin Sturtevant. He built a home at (59) High
Street. He continued to live there with his daughter,
Hattie, following his wife's death in 1911. Hattie was
the organist at the Methodist Church and also gave music
lessons. The oldest daughter (Louisa) married Henry
Billings. One son, Henry, graduated from Harvard and was
a professor at Ann Arbor University until his death in
1901. Son George married Delia Wetherell, the daughter of
the founder of the Wetherell Steel Company, Jacob B.
Wetherell. He built a house on the corner of Hale Street
and Pennsylvania Avenue, where he lived until his death
in 1896, and where his daughter "Birdie"
(Florence Bird Pettee) lived until her death in
l932...."

Otis Pettee Jr. was born in Newton Upper Falls, December 5,
1823. He received. his education in the Newton schools and then
entered the machine works with his father and became interested
in the manufacture of cotton machinery, continuing in business
until 1881. He had. a long and distinguished career in town and
city government. He was Town Selectman 1857-58, 1870-73, Assessor
1862-64 , Town Auditor 1866-69, Alderman 1875, 1877-79 (President
of the Board 1874-75. When West Newton became a city in 1874 Mr.
Pettee was one of the two Selectmen to become Aldermen.

Otis Pettee,
Jr.

Otis, Jr. married Julia Maria Smith of Needham who was born
October 4, 1824 and died April 27, 1891. During the last 15 or so
years of his life, Otis kept a very informative diary and
supplied a great deal of material for historical publications,
some of which is contained in this book. They had one son, Otis
Theodore Pettee.

Otis Theodore
Pettee

Mrs. Grace
(Maverick) Pettee

Otis T. was born February 5, 1853 and died September 6, 1907.
He, too, kept a diary the latter days of his life. The last entry
was September 5 indicating that death was sudden. Many of these
Pettee diaries may be found in the archives of the Jackson
Homestead while others are in the possession of the writer.

Mr. McLaughlin writes concerning the son, Otis Theodore
Pettee:

"Otis Jr.'s son, Otis T, who became Treasurer
of the Gamewell Company, lived in the (Pettee) home until
its purchase by the Stone Institute. He purchased
considerable property in the Eliot section of Upper Falls
and built a new home there, but he died before its
completion. However, his widow, Grace (Maverick), born
June 9, 1860 and a niece of Judge Grover of Dedham, lived
there until her death." [November 3, 1940. Ed.].

George Pettee was born in Newton Upper Falls October 28, 1827.
He was educated in the local public school (See "SCHOOLS"), also attending a
private school in Newton Centre operated by Marshall S. Rice for
several terms. Later he entered Wilbraham Academy from which he
graduated with honors. After leaving school he took charge of a
bakery owned by his father. It was located in one ell of the
large boarding house that once occupied a site on lower Mechanic
Street (the building later known as the "Bee Hive").

George Pettee

A few years later George became a clerk in his father's
grocery on Elliot Street, known then as the "back
store". Shortly after this he went into his father's cotton
machinery business and in the latter part of 1850 became Agent of
the Elliot Mills. After his father's death, the Elliot Mills
passed into the hands of Mr. F.N. Weld. Six months later Mr.
Pettee became a member of the firm of Otis Pettee & Co.,
assuming the position of General Superintendent. He retired from
business following the purchase of the concern by his
brother-in-law, Henry Billings.

George was very active in community affairs, serving nine
years in the Common Council and six years as Alderman from Ward
5; the last four years serving as president of the board. Later
he was nominated for Mayor but lost he election by 59 votes. For
over 20 years he was a very active member of the Newton Fire
Department serving in many capacities, finally as Chief in 1861
and later on the Board of Engineers. He resided for many years on
Pennsylvania Avenue.

The George Pettee House

He died. June 15, 1896 at the age of 69 leaving a widow, the
former Della Wetherell, daughter of Jacob B. Wetherell, as well
as two daughters, Ethel D. and Florence B. Pettee.

William Henry Pettee, the youngest son of Otis Pettee,
graduated from Harvard College and was the only member of the
family to leave the village, traveling west where he became an
instructor and assistant professor at various schools of mining
and geology. In 1874 he returned to Upper Falls to marry a local
girl, Sybil Anne Clarke, but in 1875 when the University of
Michigan established a School of Mines and he was offered a
professorship in mining engineering, he accepted the offer and
served in that position for 29 years. Professor Pettee was one of
the original fellows of the Geological Society of America, a
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,
and the American Philosophical Society.

William Henry Pettee

He died in 1904 leaving his wife and his daughter, Sybil
Matilda Pettee, who later married Earle W. Dow. Sybil Pettee Dow
and her husband became residents of Nebraska and had three
children, Philip, Jean and David. . She inherited portraits of
her grandparents, painted in 1837 at Newton Upper Falls by an
itinerant painter (see photos), which she later donated to the
University of Nebraska where they were hung in the Sheldon
GalIery. At present they are displayed in the foyer of the
governor's mansion. They are treasured by the university as they
represent a certain period of American folk art of which they
have few examples.

As indicated earlier, Louisa, Otis Pettee's oldest daughter,
married Henry Billings who eventually acquired the firm of Otis
Pettee & Co. He built a large home on Pettee property next
door to that of his father-in-law. Louisa and he were married
November 25, 1841 and they had three children; Louisa Matilda,
born March 3, 1843; Henry Otis, born May 29, 1846 and Mary
Josephine, born September 24, 1848.

Also, as indicated earlier, daughter Catherine married Martin
Sturtevant and they had one daughter, Hattie.

Again, as previously indicated, the youngest daughter,
Elizabeth married Willard Marcy who was a local business man and
part owner of a paper mill. He was a descendant of the Marcy
family, one of the eleven families which settled Roxbury in 1683.
His family home was located in Hartland, Vermont. (See further
information in bibliography of WILLARD MARCY).

We close with a final tribute to Otis Pettee taken from Henry
K. Rowe's book, "Tercentenniery History of Newton" He
writes,

"Until his death in 1853 Otis Pettee was one
of the principal factors in the development of Newton. He
not only furnished employment to hundreds of men and used
his good judgment and spirit of enterprise to further the
interests of the community in a business way, but he
sympathized with the temperance and slavery reforms that
were being agitated, and his sterling character was a
power among his acquaintances."

Marshall S. Rice was born June 10, 1800, the son of Nathan
Rice, a practicing physician who, soon after Marshall was born,
took his family to East Sudbury (which became Wayland in 1835).
Later the family moved to Newton Upper Falls, and an 1831 map
shows a "Rice" home located at the top of Boylston
Street Hill on the north side.

Marshall's first education was in the district schools of
Wayland. In his later grades when the master, a physician, was
called to attend the sick, Marshall would take his place; this
experience led him to become interested in the profession of
teaching. After working on a farm for two or three years, he
decided on a career of teaching, which led him to enter the
academy at Westford, where he studied for a single term. In the
winters of 1821-1823 he taught a district school in Wayland at a
salary of $16-$18 a month, working on the farm during the
summers. In 1824 he took charge of one of the schools in
Dorchester which was kept open throughout the year. In May, 1824
he commenced a boarding school for boys at Newton Center which he
continued for 23 years.

It is believed that the Rice family moved to Upper Falls about
1826 since Dr. Nathan Rice and his wife, Mary, are listed, along
with their sons, Gardner and Marshall, as members of a
"class" of Methodists here in that year. Gardner was a
teacher at the Holliston Academy in Massachusetts and was later
ordained a minister.

With his purchase of the Upper Falls Religious Society
(Unitarian) Church in 1836, Marshall became the founder and
member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Newton, and
remained a member and supporter of the church from 1832 until his
death in 1879. He was also the superintendent of its Sunday
School for that same period. He was Selectman and the Town Clerk
of Newton for 27 years, holding this office - the last of a
series - until the town became a city in 1874. He was also
Representative to the General Court for four years commencing in
1846.

He was twice married and had five children. One of them, a son
and the youngest, died in the Civil War. The eldest daughter died
in 1847. The second daughter married Reverend Alvah Hovey,
president of the Newton Theological Institution (presently the
Andover Newton Theological School) and the third married Reverend
C.H. Carpenter who was a missionary to Burma.

After graduating from Yale in 1866 Levi Wade came to Newton to
study theology, enrolling in the Newton Theological Institution
at Newton Centre. However, he had a change of mind and three
years later came to Newton Upper Falls to teach school. He became
the first master of the Prospect #2 school that was built in
1869. [See section under "SCHOOLS" for story of
change of name of Prospect St. school to that of "Levi C.
Wade" and the gift of Mrs. Wade after the death of Mr. Wade
that never materialized.] He continued to serve in this
position until 1873 when he left to enter the practice of law in
Boston. The 1874 atlas of Newton shows Mr. Wade's residence to be
at 1198 Chestnut Street in Newton Upper Falls with the following
notice appearing in the advertising section: "Levi C. Wade.,
Atty. and Counsellor at Law, 68 Cornhill, Boston. Residence,
Chestnut St.,, Newton Upper Falls." His home was later
occupied by John Brundrett and was located near what was later
known as Ackroyd's Block. The atlas shows that Mr. Wade was also
owner of this building which was later replaced by a business
block containing the present Newton Beverage Shop and one other
business enterprise.

In 1877, he and the Honorable J.Q.A. Brackett, who was later
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, formed the law firm of Wade
and Brackett. While residing in Upper Falls, Mr. Wade represented
Newton in the General Court for four successive years, becoming
Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1879. Refusing
reelection, he devoted himself to railway law and management. He
was one of the four original developers and owners of rail lines
that later became the Mexican Central Railway Company, and for
many years served as its president and general counsel. He was
also associated with a U. S. railroad., called, at the time, the
Cincinnatti, Sandusky & Cleveland RR. At this time he was
also acquiring considerable acreage in Oak Hill, and about 1883
he built a large country house with great chimneys and gables. It
was located on Dedham Street near Parker Street, and the estate
covered over 200 acres. He called it "Homewood".

Mr. Wade was married in Bath, Maine in 1869 to Margaret
Rogers. They had four sons, Arthur C., William R., Levi C. Jr.,
and Robert. Mr. Wade died at Oak Hill on March 21, 1891.

This very colorful character was engaged in local business as
well as in state and national politics. He owned and operated a
drug store in the Prospect Block at the corner of High and Pettee
streets for a number of years. He was successful and acquired
other stores in Needham, Newtonville and Chestnut Hill. He became
active in politics starting in Newton as an Alderman from Ward
Five. This led to full time activity in state politics and he
sold all of his stores mostly to his assistants, one of whom,
Thomas Aiken took over the local store.

By appointment of Governor David I. Walsh he was made
Commissioner of Administration and Finance and later became
Collector of Internal Revenue in Boston for the federal
government, During the Calvin Coolidge administration, he was
considered Mr. Coolidge's "Uncle Thomas", and served as
unofficial advisor and unpaid assistant. He was active the
campaigns of Senators Saltonstall and Lodge. In his later days he
helped organize the Suffolk Downs racetrack and was one of its
owners. In 1950 he was severely crippled by a fall; he died in
1960.

Among the families who exerted a great deal of influence and
shared in shaping the development of the village of Upper Falls
during its formative years were the Winslows. They were the
lineal descendants of Edward Winslow of Droitwich, England who
died in 1631. He was the father of Governor Edward Winslow who
with his brother, John, came on the Mayflower in 1620. The
Winslows' American ancestor was Kenelm Winslow, a brother of the
governor and of John, who came to Plymouth about 1630, probably
on the Mayflower's second voyage. Starting with Edward Winslow of
Droitwich, England the lineal line runs thus: Kenelm (son of
Edward), Kenelm, Josiah, James, Shadrach.

The vital statistics of each member of the Winslow family, and
also any other information of interest are taken from the Winslow
Family Genealogy on file in the New England Historic Genealogical
Society in Boston. Although they are lengthy we include them here
for the benefit of Winslow family descendants. Our record begins
with Shadrach, who seems to have reinstilled the spirit of
adventure into some of his descendants.

Dr. Shadrach Winslow was born December 17, 1750 in Freetown,
Massachusetts and he died in Foxboro, Massachusetts February l,
1817 at the age of 66. He graduated from Yale in 1771 and became
an eminent physician and surgeon. It must be noted that in 1776
only about 400 of the 3500 colonial physicians had medical
degrees. During the Revolutionary War he fitted up an American
privateer on which he sailed as a surgeon. He was taken prisoner
and held off the coast of Spain and afterwards, for a period of
one year, was a prisoner on board the "Old Jersey Prison
Ship" in Wallabout Bay, Brooklyn. He suffered many
privations and his health was impaired. On March 12, 1783 he
married Elizabeth Robbins. She was born April 29, 1764 at
Foxboro, the daughter of Eleazer and Mary (Savell) Robbins. She
died April l, 1846 at Foxboro.

Shadrach's son, Eleazer was one of 10 children who possessed
some of his father's adventuresome spirit. He was born March 21,
1786 at Foxboro, Massachusetts and he died August 8, 1863 at
Newton Upper Falls (age 77) and is buried in Newton Cemetery. He
married Ann Corbett of Boston on April 21, 1811 when she was but
17. Her father, David Corbett, was born in July, 1767. Her
mother, Deborah, the daughter of David and Deborah (Cowin) was
born December 2, 1768. David and Deborah were married December 2,
1792. They had five sons and four daughters although two of the
girls died quite young.

In 1814 they had their first child, Charles, while living in
Mansfield, Massachusetts. Supposedly because of Eleazer's poor
health they went to live in a cabin in the township of Hunter,
New York, located in the Catskill Mountains. Eleazer's livelihood
was the hunting of bears and wolves for which the state of New
York paid a bounty. His wife later told of many harrowing
experiences while living there. She was often compelled to pass
the night alone with her growing and helpless children (five were
born in this wilderness), her husband being absent on his
trapping expeditions. The howling of the wolves around their
lonely log cabin was by no means pleasant music to a woman born
and educated in the city of Boston. The family then moved to
Ramapo, New York where three more of their offspring were born.
In 1826 they moved to Newton Upper Falls where seven more
children were added. to the family. Of their 16 children, four
did not survive to adulthood.

Ann arrived in Upper Falls when she was 33 years of age and
was glad to be back within visiting distance of her family in
Boston. Although her father had died In 1807, her mother died
August 11, 1835.

Upon arriving in Upper Falls, Ann Winslow made her presence
felt in this fast developing community. Concerned with the lack
of organized religious activities in the village, she helped
organize the first Methodist class in Newton in 1826 and was an
active member of this faith until she died on September 24, 1871
at the age of 77. Her strong and steadying influence was
reflected in the character and careers of her family.

The eldest Winslow son was Charles, born January 30, 1814 in
Mansfleld, Massachusetts. He was married in Newton on February
18, 1838 to Sarah Ann Fuller who was born in Needham August 8,
1814. She was the daughter of Ezra and Mary (Woodcock) Fuller who
had two other daughters, Mary Ellen born in Newark, New Jersey
who died in her fourth year at Needham and Eleanor Isabel who was
born January 20, 1852 at Springfield, Massachusetts. Charles was
12 when the family moved to Newton Upper Falls and presumably he
finished his elementary schooling there. Included in remarks he
made later at a reunion of former pupils at Holliston Academy in
1875 (under headmaster Gardner Rice, later a minister , and
brother of Marshall S. Rice of Newton Upper Falls) was the
statement that he had attended High School (Academy ?) "in
the old Town Hall" for three terms. His residence in 1877
was Worcester and his occupation was that of a machinist. It
appears that he had joined his brother Samuel who had
established. a machine shop in Worcester in 1855.

Samuel Winslow was born February 28, 1827 at Newton Upper
Falls. He married. Mary Weeks Robbins, born November 12, 1825 in
Union, Maine to David and Lydia (Maxey) Robbins on November l,
1848. They had. two children, Frank E., born May 16, 1852 in
Newton and Samuel E., born April 11, 1862 at Worcester. Samuel
was to find himself a poor student but a good mechanic, and at an
early age began what later became a lucrative career when he
established machine shops in Worcester for the manufacture of ice
and roller skates. Roller skating had become quite popular in the
early 1860s when John Plimpton invented a method of converting an
immovable skate to one which would respond to a curve. By 1871
the sport became popular nationally and when three years later it
was received with similar enthusiasm in England, the output of
2,000 pairs a week in Plimpton's factory in Brooklyn could not
keep up with demand, he sought out Samuel Winslow, now a
successful ice skate manufacturer, asking for his help in
producing roller skates. During the next five years Winslow
produced 20,000 pairs for Plimpton at $2 a pair. Later when he
began manufacturing skates in his own right, he became the
world's largest roller skate manufacturer.

An Upper Falls news item appearing in a Newton paper on
November 2, 1894, not long after his death, gives a detailed.
record. of his achievements:

Hon. Samuel Winslow, who died at Worcester a few
days ago, was once a resident of this village. He was
Mayor of Worcester for many years, and was the father of
the chairman of the state Republican committee. He was
born in this village February, 28, lS28 (another record
says 1827), and was one of sixteen children. He received
a scanty education in the schools here and in 1855
started a machine shop in Worcester where he made a few
pair of skates a day. He had continued in this business,
taking in the rolling skate business which yielded him a
handsome fortune, in addition to one already acquired by
the manufacture of ice skates. He was president of the
Citizens National Bank and Trustee of the People's
Savings Bank. During the last years of his life he had
interested himself in the electric railways running out
of Worcester, being president of all the roads.

Samuel's earlier home was on High Street next to the present
Emerson School, a fact which, combined with his rise to such
prominence as indicated above, resulted in his name being
suggested for the new school built next door to the property in
1904. However, the honor was finally awarded to that
distinguished figure in American literature, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Seth Collins Winslow was born January 11, 1822 at Ramapo, New
York and died January 30, 1870 at Worcester, Massachusetts. He
was married November 26, 1846 to Nancy M. Flagg who was born
December 25, 1825 at Grafton, Massachusetts. She died May 17,
1850. Seth's second marriage was March 30, 1854 to Eunice H. Swan
who was born on September 13, 1827 at West Halifax, Vermont, the
daughter of Salmon and Miriam (Harris) Swan. She died August 20,
1870. Seth and Eunice had six children, all born in Worcester.

The youngest son, James, lived but a short time; he was born
August 2, 1834 at Newton Upper Falls and died there March 8,
1841.

Some information on son John Winslow has already been
presented. We are indebted to him for the written record he left
behind containing comments of different aspects of village life
in Upper Falls, especially during the first half of the
nineteenth century. Most of these are spread throughout this book
under each chapter, particularly the one entitled
"SCHOOLS." A similar record is available to us, one
kept by George Pettee who was the son of millowner Otis Pettee.
The use of these records has been explained earlier in this book,
and individual excerpts appearing in various chapters credited to
the writer responsible for them.

John Winslow was born October 21, 1825 at Ramapo, Rockland
County, New York and came with his parents to Newton Upper Falls
when he was but sixteen months old. He was married at Bay Ridge,
New Utrecht, Kings County, Long Island, New York December 27,
1854 to Sarah Miller Bennett, born November 22, 1825, daughter of
John I, and Hannah (Baker) Bennett of Bay Ridge. They had two
sons and a daughter; the older son died young and he is interred
with his father and mother in Newton Cemetery.

David Corbett Winslow was born June 9, 1819 in the township of
Hunter in the Catskill Mountains. He was married in New York City
July 25, 1841 to Harriet Adaline Stearns. She was born January
14, 1817 in Franklin, Massachusetts, the daughter of Deacon Edwin
and Harriet (Paddock) Stearns of Millbury, Massachusetts. They
had eight children, four boys and four girls, all born in New
York state. As a youth, David followed a different path than
brother John. He attended the Upper Falls school for the most
part in the winter. At the age of 20 he attended the academy at
Hancock, New Hampshire for six months where he qualified to
become a teacher. He taught his first school at Peterboro, New
Hampshire during the winter of 1840-1841. In the spring of 1841
he moved to Long Island where he taught school and studied law at
the same time. In due time he passed the bar examinations and was
admitted to the bar in Brooklyn where he set up his own law
practice. Soon after, his younger brother, John, became his
partner in the firm. Like John, David also held many responsible
positions in fields allied to his profession

The lengthy story regarding the last of the sons, George, will
be included in the story of the California Gold Rush of 1849
found in the chapter VILLAGE
LIFE.

We continue with a brief background of the nine Winslow
daughters, taking them in the order of their ages.

Ann was born July 13, 1815 in Hunter Township, Green County,
New York and died there April 16, 1816.

Elizabeth Robbins Winslow was born October 24, 1816, also in
Hunter Township. She died April 21, 1824 in Ramapo, New York.

Clarissa Williams Winslow was born March 13, 1818 in Hunter
Township and died at the age of 51 on July 29, 1869 in Newton
Centre, Massachusetts. She was educated in the two-teacher, two
room school in Upper Falls, became a teacher and later presided
over the same classroom in which she had once been a pupil. She
was married in the local Methodist church on Thanksgiving Day,
November 31, 1843 by Gardner Rice (schoolmaster to some of the
Winslow boys) to Brackett Lord who was born January 4, 1819 in
Ossipee, New Hampshire, the son of Wentworth and Sally (May)
Lord. He died June 25, 1872. They raised a family of five
children, three born in Upper Falls and two in Needham. Theirs
was a classroom romance as Mr. Lord was also a teacher in the
village school. He will also play a part in the California Gold
Rush story.

Emeline was born November 4, 1820 in Hunter Township, New
York. She was also married in the local Methodist Church, by
Reverend James Mudge, to Orrin Whipple. They had a family of
eight children, all born in Newton. Mr. Whipple was born April
15, 1818 in Richmond, New Hampshire, the son of Cyrus and Polly
(Baker) Whipple. He became a well known contractor and builder in
Newton Corner, also owning and operating a steam saw and grist
mill there. He served as a Selectman in Newton for 13 years.
Jackson Homestead's booklet of "Newton's Older Houses,
etc." contains a picture of their substantial home at 195
Church Street, Newton Corner, where it is believed all of their
children were born.

Deborah Ann Winslow was born August 8, 1828 at Newton Upper
Falls. She draws special attention as her marriage in Newton
Upper Falls on January 25, 1848 to Nathaniel Ware Everett (born
November 18, 1810 at Foxboro, Massachusetts) was to a cousin of
Edward Everett (1794-1865) the well known clergyman, scholar,
statesman, and orator of that period. Among other positions of
honor, Edward Everett served as Secretary of State in the cabinet
of Millard Fillmore, 13th president of the United States
(1850-1853). (See biography "EDWARD EVERETT").
Nathaniel Everett's mother was Abigail Caswell Pettee, sister of
Upper Falls millowner, Otis Pettee. Nathaniel and Deborah had six
children (three died young) all born in Newton Upper Falls.

Mary Pratt Winslow was born April 14, 1830 at Newton Upper
Falls. She was married by Reverend Z.A. Mudge in the Methodist
church on April 20, 1848 to David Jackson Staples who was born
May 3, 1824 in Medway, Massachusetts, son of John and Dorcas
(Reed) Staples. David's lineage extended back to seventeenth
century pioneers as, indeed, so did that of the Winslows. Mr.
Staples' adventures will be included with those involved in the
California Gold Rush story. The Staples had five children, one
born in Newton and the other four in California.

Elizabeth Robbins Winslow was a twin to Mary Pratt Winslow.
She was, of course, born April 14, 1830 at Newton Upper Falls.
and married Marcy Robbins, February 19, 1854. He was born July
13, 1830 in Union, Maine, the son of David and Lydia A. (Maxey)
Robbins. They had three children, all born in Newton Upper Falls.
Later they moved to Worcester and one suspects that Mr. Robbins
joined the Samuel Winslow enterprises.

Martha Switzer Winslow was born April 14, 1832 at Newton Upper
Falls. She married Elliot Littlefield of Newton on March 15,
1853. He was born January 9, 1823 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts,
the son of Amory and Nancy (Gilmore) Littlefield of Holliston,
Massachusetts. He was a carpenter. He and Martha had four
children, one born in Holliston, one born in Newton Upper Falls
and two in Newton Corner. On September 26, 1861 in Newton, Mr.
Littlefield enlisted in the Union forces and was assigned to
Company G, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. He was taken prisoner by
the Confederate Army on September 14, 1863, confined for a time
in Libby Prison and then was removed to Florence and afterwards
to Andersonville, where he died in 1864. Following his death his
widow and children returned to live in Newton Upper Falls.

Harriet F. Winslow, the last born of Eleazer and Ann, was born
July 25, 1836 at Newton Upper Falls, dying there at a young age
on March 8, 1841, the same day as her brother James.

We conclude here with the background of the other Winslow in
town, Jesse, brother of Eleazer and "uncle" to all the
children. He was born May 25, 1794, presumably at Foxboro,
Massachusetts, remaining there until he was 20 years of age. In
1814 he went to Greenwich, Connecticut where he resided about two
years and in 1816 he moved to Richmond, Virginia, living there
until 1821 when he moved to Walpole, Massachusetts. In June, 1823
he moved permanently to Newton Upper Falls. In 1830 he married
Carolina Ray of that village. She was the daughter of Samuel and
Chloe (Whipple) Ray of Upper Falls, formerly of Cumberland, Rhode
Island. Jesse served the village twice for a total of nine years
as Postmaster and the town as Selectman and Assessor. He was
elected to the state legislature for two terms. (See Chapter PUBLIC SERVICE BUILDINGS).

At the Registry of Deeds in the courthouse at Cambridge may be
found a record that indicates that in 1845 Eleazer Winslow bought
a house and land on Elliot Street (an 1855 map shows this house
to be one still standing at 314 Elliot), thus fulfilling a
millworker's dream to "procure a small lot of land and build
themselves a comfortable little home." Eleazer did not build
the house (a little larger than small) but we are sure it more
than satisfied him. On this same 1855 map a home shown next door
to Eleazer's on the easterly side bears the name of the owner,
Charles Winslow, the eldest son of Eleazer and Ann. After Charles
moved to Worcester, his home appears to have been eventually
acquired by the Newton Cotton Mills and moved to its present
location at 333-337 Elliot Street.

On High Street, the house (now #23) next to the location of
the old Emerson School building, is shown on the 1855 map as
being owned by S(amuel) Winslow, the son who went off to
Worcester to literally "make his fortune." It would
appear from the record that the influence of this family was felt
in the village of Newton Upper Falls for over half a century
which helped shape some of its history. A quick scan of the local
telephone book finds Winslows still located just outside the
borders of the village in Newton and Needham and, almost within
the confines of the old original Upper Falls village, a Winslow
Road perpetuates the name.

Copyright 1997, 1998 Kenneth W. Newcomb and The Friends of
Hemlock Gorge. All rights reserved. This page last modified
October 8, 1998.